Joseph Parker, the 32-year-old heavyweight boxer from New Zealand, has a pretty impressive resume in the heavyweight division. He's faced some of the toughest fighters out there, and he's got some interesting thoughts on who hits the hardest.
Parker won the vacant WBO World Title in a close contest against Andy Ruiz Jr. He managed to defend that title twice before losing it to Anthony Joshua in a unification bout. After that, he took on Dillian Whyte but couldn't get the win.
Back in 2020, Parker had a chat with Ring Magazine about the best fighters he's faced. He said Anthony Joshua was the best overall, and Dillian Whyte was the strongest. But when it came to who hit the hardest, Parker surprised everyone by naming Andy Ruiz Jr.
"Dillian Whyte did drop me, but with Ruiz, I really felt the sting in his punches. I think it was a left hook he caught me with in our fight that hurt me. From that point on, in the whole fight, I was deaf in one ear."
That's pretty wild, right? Parker couldn't hear out of one ear for the rest of the fight after Ruiz caught him with that hook.
Now, you might be thinking, "What about Anthony Joshua?" He's known as one of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division. Joshua even stopped Ruiz in their rematch after losing to him in a big upset in 2019. But for Parker, Ruiz's punches just hit different.
Speaking of Ruiz, he had a tough time in 2023. He ended up in a controversial draw with Jarrell Miller and broke his hand in the process.
Parker's had his ups and downs too. He got stopped by Joe Joyce, which was the first time he'd ever been stopped in his career. But he's bounced back in a big way. He's been working with coach Andy Lee and has picked up some impressive wins over Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang.
Right now, Parker's looking like a strong contender in the heavyweight division. He's got a rematch with Zhang in the works, but that might not happen if Zhang ends up fighting Martin Bakole instead. If that's the case, Parker might end up facing someone like Agit Kabayel or Jarrell Miller.
Whatever happens next, it's clear that Parker's got plenty of fight left in him. And he's definitely not afraid to mix it up with the hardest hitters in the division.
